Bought a Gotham 2

It's available in Graphite now, so I grabbed it.

Gonna put me some SPD pedals on there. Hopefully that works.

With any luck, the jobs I have lined up are within 1/2 mile of light rail, I'll be a mixed mode commuter instead of a bike commuter, which should be fun. Guess I can study while on the train, or read books.

NOTHING grips pulling up. Nothing. I need the connection to the pedals, my weight isn't always going down against them.

I've got two strong leads that fall within 1/3 and 1/2 mile from the light rail. One job is 3 stops north (7 minutes!) of the climbing gym I go to, the other is 4, and my apartment is south of there, so I pass the climbing place on the way to and from work. This is going to be a thing for me, if this pans out I'm totally going dedicated mixed-mode. Work-life balance is excellent:

The pay rate should be $10k higher than what I'll ask for starting, but that satisfies me because I'm asking more than I was making--I was making twice as much as I was spending at my last job!

Ride on the light rail means I can rest, read a book, study on my daily commute

The climbing gym is right there, I can stop on the way home from work whenever I want

It's close to my preferred grocer, so I can of course buy food more often, have fresher vegetables and sashimi and meats a lot more

One of these even includes a little international travel--I can't write that down as interfering with my work-life balance because it should be enlightening. Two good potentials.

I have a Gotham 1 and I believe its quite similar to the 2.
Very light for just about anyone to tote around all day long. This is my first folder so I have no idea what other bikes are like in build quality, but this thing has been tough so far. Nothing has broken, no squeaks, keep it lubed with "Rock n Roll" to keep it even more silent.
I keep it in the trunk of a Mazda 3 and run around on it in all sorts of places. I just clicked over 1,000 miles on mine and it will be a year old this July.

I was considering a Gotham 2 a few years ago but went with the Miami instead because of it's steel frame. The reasoning behind it being that the weakness behind mid-framed hinged folders is that the hinge is under quite a bit of stress (more so than say the Brompton's furthur forward located hinge) and wears out over time and most inexpensive folders do not have precise and interlocking mating surfaces that prevent torsional loads/wear to the hinge. Since I don't do much aluminum work anymore other that casting, my MIG basically is set up for steel, so mods to the hinge mating surfaces are therefore limited to steel. Besides, I don't race my folders so a few pounds of extra steel don't really make a difference in the real world of commuting and touring.

I hope you enjoy your Gotham 2. It's a very slick looking bike and I hope it serves you well. If you ever get the urge to upgrade, tires like the Schwalbe (shval'-beh) Marathon Racer HS 429 really improves the ride quality.

I hope you enjoy your Gotham 2. It's a very slick looking bike and I hope it serves you well. If you ever get the urge to upgrade, tires like the Schwalbe (shval'-beh) Marathon Racer HS 429 really improves the ride quality.

I use Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires on my 700c bikes, and was meaning to ask about good tires for those 20 inch wheels. Mind you those Supremes don't care about rusted nails and glass bottles--I crush already fragmented glass--and my car's tires take frequent punctures. I bike in debris, I'm the guy that would go for Nobby Nics over Rocket Rons if I MTB'd because the Rons don't hold up (they're great for racing).

Fedex was here at 10:30am and will have my bike at the nearby drop location at 6am tomorrow. I was in an interview today... >:| Huh... guess ... I got a bag to carry it in and the bike itself ... guess I need to drive out there? I can't bungee a ginormous ass box onto my rear rack and bike it back home. I think. I could maybe, but then maybe I'd die, I dunno, how much more abuse can my heart take? (Answer: It'll take what I give it, those chest pains and cramps haven't killed me yet!)

Swapped the AP520 platform/SPD pedals on in place of the folding pedals.

The bag is huge. The bike seems easier to carry just folded than in the case, but I'll put it in the case so it doesn't mess up the seats. The case comes in a case that folds inside out and zippers back up as a storage compartment when the case is in use, which is nifty.

The clamp basically locks a pin in place to hold the frame together, then locks a cam lock (quick release) onto that to clamp the frame together solid. It's very secure and sturdy from what I can tell.

Put some Triflow Soy on the chain (yeah I know, new chain, but it's not dripping with grease so I touched it up) and ran out to Halmand about 1 mile away. Nice Afghani place, the food was amazing, one of the servers was very interested in my bike.

That bike uses a 13-34 cog set which is basically a 6 speed with a granny gear on the back--13-15-17-19-21-24-34. While I don't spend much time in 7th, I spend even less in 2nd. I think it'd make more sense to sacrifice the 24t and put an 11t at the top, giving 11-13-15-17-19-21-34.

That little thing is fast but the handling characteristics are a lot different than my 700c Tachyon 3.0. It seems to lose its rear stability when I lay power in 7th gear, might just be my poor balance. Don't know if a rear suspension would help it mesh with the ground better, but it'd sure make it heavier.

The rack on both my KHS Mocha and Citizen Miami is the same way... no side supports for panniers. However they're stable enough to handle my loaded backpack (with laptop, tools, spares, breakfast and lunch). Secure the bottom to the rack and the top part of the pack to the seat tube and seat rails... yet another advantage of small wheeled bikes since the top of a back pack would extend far above the seat of a large wheeled bike (I know, I know... it's a SADDLE )

Great looking bike BlueFoxIcy! I always admired the G2's unique, high tech "space frame". As for modifying the gearing, you can look on both Amazon, and eBay for a 7 speed 11-34 freewheel. I believe both Epoch, and Sunrace make them. Shimano discontinued their 7 speed 11-34 Megarange several years ago.